The EU and the Philippines announced their intention to explore the relaunch of negotiations for an ambitious, modern, and balanced free trade agreement (FTA) – with sustainability at its core. The EU and the Philippines will shortly kick off a bilateral ‘scoping process’ to assess to which extent they share a mutual understanding on the […]
EU sanctions Russian disinformation campaign
The Council decided to impose restrictive measures against seven Russian individuals and five entities responsible for conducting a digital information manipulation campaign called ‘RRN’ (Recent Reliable News), aimed at distorting information and disseminating propaganda in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This campaign, to which government bodies or bodies affiliated to the Russian State have participated, relies on fake web […]
Commission steps up protection of children from unsafe toys
The Commission proposed a Toy Safety Regulation revising the current rules to protect children from potential risks in toys. Toys put on the EU market are already among the safest ones in the world. The proposed rules will further improve this protection, in particular from harmful chemicals. They also aim at reducing the high number […]
Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by Microsoft regarding Teams
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing. Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration […]
ECB raises interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to curb inflation
Inflation continues to decline but is still expected to remain too high for too long. The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner. It therefore today decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points. The rate increase today reflects […]
How to reduce rising sea level risks on European coasts
A new modelling study sheds light on adaptation measures that can protect cities and urban areas along Europe’s coasts. Europe’s coastal areas are highly urbanised and already experiencing the consequences of climate change. Adaptation strategies to protect coastal urban communities from rising sea levels have traditionally taken the form of hard structures such as dikes […]
Enhancing EU resilience: A step forward to identify critical entities for key sectors
The Commission has adopted a list of essential services in the eleven sectors covered by the Critical Entities Resilience Directive (CER), which entered into force on 16 January 2023. Critical entities provide essential services in upholding key societal functions, supporting the economy, ensuring public health and safety, and preserving the environment. Member States will have to identify the […]
Going on a trip this summer? A refresher on consular protection for EU citizens
Have you planned a well-deserved holiday outside the EU this summer? Here are some of the things you need to know before heading to the airport. If something goes wrong abroad, the EU is here for you If you get into serious difficulties somewhere outside the EU, and your own EU country doesn’t have an embassy […]
Where does your ice cream come from?
In 2020, the EU produced over 2.9 billion litres of ice cream, representing a 9% decline from the previous year. Over the same period, EU Member States exported 232 million kilograms of ice cream to non-EU countries, worth a total of €752 million. In addition, imports of ice cream from countries outside the EU amounted to 79 […]